Assessing Your CEO Quotient

1. In order to figure out how your culture stacks up, perform the following quick, nonscientific "culture audit." For each question, rate your company's performance on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 means strongly agree, 1 means strongly disagree).

   1. In our organization, there is a high degree of trust between the workforce and management.

   2. Workers in our company are dedicated, and often go beyond the call of duty to accomplish an important task.

   3. Most workers feel free to make decisions without approvals from their boss(es).

   4. Most workers feel that they have a stake in the company, financial or otherwise (e.g., profit sharing).

   5. We hire for attitude, making sure that a person's personal qualities are weighed along with her or his credentials.

2. Think about the core values that exist in your organization. Are they the right ones? Are they well known throughout all levels of the company? Are they constantly communicated to employees?

3. Are there no more than four layers of management between the CEO and your front-line supervisors?

4. Are the employees of your company empowered to make important decisions, or are they forced to obtain several layers of approvals in order to do so?

5. Think about the way your company hires its people. Does your organization hire for attitude, or more on "straight" credentials?